Depression and Anxiety

IDek how to add this but it’s more of a informational piece

I guess I should start by explaining what depression is.
Depression is not just a social construct, it’s a serious problem that today’s society has to face, it affects quite a lot of people from the newer generation to the older generations. It has become more of a problem in 2010’s than it was in 1980’s. Depression can range from many different things, not everyone has the same symptoms. Most people will undergo a drastic mood change where they are quite sad and angry all the time whilst other people may hear voices telling them very dark things that can be considered to drive people to do things they may not do normally. Depression is having a hatred for yourself because you’re unhappy being the person you are. You lose the love you had for yourself. You lower your self-esteem, confidence which can lead to not sleeping so you can start to suffer from sleep deprivation and to certain extents you may stop eating which will lead to chronic fatigue. Not everyone will suffer from these but in some people we can find all these problems.
These can become such a problem that if someone doesn't notice that the person is suffering from depression it will make that person feel ashamed because there is a strong stigma attached to depression which for some people will make them not tell someone about their pain/suffering and going unnoticed will leave them to break down both mentally and physically. It can get to the point where you let yourself suffer so much you think that you can not be cured, so you attempt to try things like self harm. Many say self harm is a coping mechanism. Why is this?
Self harm is a coping mechanism because depression affects someone's mental health to an extent where they feel emotionally numb, then they feel so down they want to feel some sort of pain to feel human again. So cutting themselves is a well known self harm mechanism. From experience I know that it works because there's a feeling of relief when you do cut yourself. It does not make you feel any happier it just makes you feel alive again which many people want to feel so they know they are in the real world. The problem with self harm being a coping mechanism is that when it stops working for that person they spiral out of control, then decide that there’s only one way to end the pain which could be suicide.
However, they think suicide will end the pain for them. This is false, sure they will no longer feel pain because they’ll be gone but that pain will be passed to loved ones, family members and even friends. Then when it’s ended for that person it will start the vicious cycle again but for someone else. That’s why is very important for someone to get help when they even suspect having depression or it will to the point of no return, which I have just explained.
How does someone get depression you ask?
That is a simple question to answer, almost anything can trigger someone’s depression. For example bullying,
Bullying is a main cause of depression in not just youth but adults too, bullying can hurt someone so much they learn to hate themselves because all they want is to fit into today’s social classes. If they don’t they become an easy target for bullying just because they are different.
Another example would be the loss of a loved one, losing someone you love no matter the age can bring depression upon a person because they will feel like life has taken something from them that they loved ever so dearly. From experience I know how losing a loved one can trigger such things. Studies show that most people who suffer from depression also have another lifelong syndrome or disorder that they have a constant battle with. An example could be having tourettes.
Tourettes is described as “a neurological disorder characterized by involuntary tics and vocalizations and often the compulsive utterance of obscenities” which can be a struggle especially in day to day life. Something as simple as walking down the street can leave you upset especially when your tics are triggered and you lose control. People look at you as if you’re weird or they decide to make fun of you, which can be very upsetting therefore making you hate life as you feel it’s unfair. Majority of people who has suffered or still suffered severely from Tourette’s has said their disorder has lead them to feeling depressed because of how they are seen by the public. They don’t feel “normal” not that normal is definable.
(Cameron’s story)
At the age 13 I had lost my auntie, who meant the world to me. When I lost her I felt so depressed, more than I already was from school. It was so hard for me I couldn’t even bring myself to attend her funeral because the pain was just too much for me. The only way I dealt with it was locking myself away from everyone and staying to myself for a while. Soon enough I did manage to accept the fact she was gone from my life and I decided then to make my life better for her.
There has also been a genetic link to depression, there has been a survey that states 10% of people who were asked, has generations of family members that also were known to suffer depression.
What does this mean?
It means that some people are most likely to suffer from depression due to the fact depression has ran through the family, however it’s not certain there is a big possibility of it happening.
I will share two stories from real people who suffer from depression and talk about how depression affects their everyday life and if having money changes the way people perceive them.
Why is depression considered a mainstream problem?
Depression is considered a mainstream problem because how its become more common today than it was in the 1980s. Today we can find depression in people as young as 10 years old which is shocking considering that at 10, children shouldn't even understand the concept of depression. Over the past 50 years, depression has increased by over tens of thousands. Back in the 80s you don’t hear very many stories about depression, but now it’s just the social norm, which is highly inappropriate because no one should have to believe having depression is normal. Suicide is one of the main killers. Since 2017, almost 6000 people aged 10 and over have committed suicide.
Here a few statistics;
Men commit suicide 3.53x more than women.
Women attempt suicide 1.2x more than men.
On average there are over 120 suicides per day.
These are similar for both U.S and UK.
Story 1 - middle class person. (Name will be changed for security purposes)
My name is Johnny, I have suffered from depression since I was 15, I am now 28 years old. It has been a long and painful battle, there has been times where I wanted to kill myself but I thought that would be selfish as I didn’t want to hurt family. I live alone in a little flat and work 6 days a week which is stressful so on a worse day I wouldn't even be able to attend work because I knew if I do, I would have a severe breakdown. I am not well off but I am able to have a roof over my head, when I asked a person about depression straight away they assumed I was a depressed mess with no control over my life. So I think not having money does affect how people perceive me. If they asked someone who was rich and famous they wouldn’t think depression would even exist in their life.
Story 2 - Wealthy Person (Name will be changed)
Hello, I am Rebecca and I am a 26 year old, I have suffered with depression since I was 18. I have not
been able to work because of my depression and I live with my parents. I have many friends and quite a lot of money but that doesn’t change the fact that I am depressed when asked, people didn’t think a person like me would have depression they thought just because I have it all I must live a happy life, truth is I live a very unhappy life. I have nothing to live for and can’t even leave my house because im afraid. Just because I drive an expensive car doesn’t make me happy. Sure I can pay for great medical help but it doesn't always help. Someone could be driving a Ford Focus and still be happier than me. People let their stereotypes of people cloud their judgement.
What can we take from these stories?
From the stories we can agree that people like to think of people solely on what they own, as we can see from Rebecca and Johnny. This proves that anyone can get depression not just people who have nothing. Depression is a serious issue that needs to be addressed more. This leaves us to ask what are medical professionals and society doing to help prevent depression?
You’re probably wondering why depression is a mainstream problem?
There is an easy answer for that, today's technology. As I have already mentioned previously bullying can be a cause of depression, and with today's advanced technology it is much easier for people to get bullied. There's so many social media platforms out there that people as young as 11 have, most likely even younger than that. Before this technology advance depression substantially less common. It was still there but it wasn’t as known. Now it’s practically seen as a normal part of life that it has gotten to a point people do not understand how bad it can affect someone.
Anxiety is a dangerous mix with depression. Having depression and anxiety can have a harmful effect on people. I know this from experience, It’s like you just want to close yourself away from everyone, sleep for an eternity but when the anxiety kicks in you don't sleep, you obsess over past things you’ve done or about to do. It’s finally falling asleep and waking up so physically and mentally exhausted you can’t focus on anything. It’s as if you think hours on end repeating all your regrets in your head. It’s so controlling it consumes you as a person till it gets to the point you’re barely recognisable. You begin to fear everything in your day to day life that you used to be able to do. Meeting friends? You fear the worst that they may actually hate you and not want to hang out.
Going to school or work is a nightmare fearing the worst when traveling there watching as you feel thousands of eyes pierce through you like something is wrong. Fear and regret spreads through your mind like a virus. It will not stop, it will take over you, consume the person you used to be.
Paranoia soon creeps in and makes you paranoid of your actions, or before even going anyway you get so paranoid you either will not go, or you have to get someone to go with you. People look at these fears as if they are nothing. Until it is them experiencing it. All these fears are real to the person going through them.
It’s being addicted to social media, posting photos wanting constant approval from family, friends and even random people. Instagram, facebook anything. Searching through people's news feeds seeing if they are saying anything about you.
Just because you see a photo of someone smiling it doesn’t mean they’re happy. Today people have become magicians when it comes to hiding emotions. You start to wonder, if the world hides the true emotions how many people are out there suffering not asking for help. It is important to take a minute of your important life to stop, wait a minute to listen to your loved ones, family members and friends. See if they are really “fine”.
Behind the scenes, people aren’t always happy. From my experience I used to envy people’s lives. They are happy, getting their dream jobs, getting engaged and even buying their new home. Is it bad I wanted their life? Is it bad I wanted them to feel how I felt.
The truth is, I don’t know how they actually felt. I just know I wasn’t happy and I wanted to believe I could have an amazing life like the one they shared all over social media. This links to the fact that social media is our biggest acting influence of depression. It spreads like a virus, so many people use social media, everyone is linked together sharing moments in time, which can be a good and bad thing.
The advantage of being able to share memories on social media is that you can show your family and friends many achievements in life. Maybe it is showing the fact you have a child and you want everyone to see how proud you are. Maybe it is to show a night out you’ve had with friends and you want them to see it, remember it.
However, the disadvantage of being able to see memories is seeing the bad memories from other people that may affect you, maybe it was a loved one who has hurt you and you’re remembering the good times and it only brings pain. It could be memories from when you used to be happy and you don't understand why are no longer happy. Sometimes everyone has their limitations to how much they can take. It's not easy holding on the memories you want and it's just as hard losing the memories you don't want to keep.
According to research, children today are reporting more levels of anxiety than a child psychiatric patient in the 1950s. What does this tell us about anxiety? That’s because we let it progress like the virus it is, It has affected us, our ancestors, our children to come. We did this and now it’s taking over and bringing chaos to the world.